Hadrian II

   Pope (q.v.) from 867-872. He was drawn into two struggles with the Byzantine church. The first concerned the election of Photios as patriarch of Constantinople (qq.v.), which Hadrian disapproved of. This was decided in the papacy's (q.v.) favor at the council at Constantinople in 869-870, where, with Hadrian's legates looking on, Photios was excommunicated. The second involved Hadrian's attempt to extend papal influence to the new Christian churches in Moravia and Bulgaria (qq.v.). In 870 Khan Boris I (qq.v.) requested a bishop (q.v.) from the papacy, which was the equivalent of inviting papal jurisdiction over Bulgaria. Hadrian also gave his approval to the Moravian mission of Constantine the Philosopher and Methodios (qq.v.). The two brothers appeared in Rome in 867 with their pupil Kliment of Ohrid (q.v.). For a moment it looked as if the new Slavic churches might fall under papal jurisdiction. However, a council at Constantinople in 879-880 decided in favor of Byzantine jurisdiction over the Bulgarian church. In any case, by this time Khan Boris had turned once again toward Byzantium (q.v.), after Hadrian delayed sending a bishop to Bulgaria.